West Bengal Oath Ceremony: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is set to be sworn as the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister after leading the party to a landslide victory and defeating Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee in her Bhabanipur stronghold during the recently concluded Assembly elections. The event has been scheduled to coincide with the birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
West Bengal has always been an exception in Indian politics. While other states have seen the incumbency pendulum swing every five years, West Bengal, on the other hand, has traditionally favored the long game. From the three-and-a-half decade-long rule of the Left Front to the non-stop reign of Mamata Banerjee for 15 years, the voters of the state have traditionally loved the idea of having “one face and one force” for several decades at once.
However, in light of what happens next, all eyes will be on how the first-time BJP chief minister of West Bengal, Mr. Suvendu Adhikari, takes the oath at the Brigade Parade Ground after breaking the impregnable fortress of Trinamool Congress in a tough election. Whether he succeeds in enjoying a long and prosperous innings in politics remains to be seen.
West Bengal Oath Ceremony: Stability or Churn
The political culture of Bengal revolves around strong grassroots connections and an equally strong executive leader. Adhikari is an expert at the politics of Bengal, having emerged out of the movement at Nandigram after rising up from Purba Medinipur. Having defeated Mamata Banerjee in her stronghold of Bhabanipur, Adhikari can certainly do away with any sort of personality cult that exists. The trick now is to build a stronger and equally influential personality.
The victory of the BJP represents a huge ideological upheaval. Yet, in light of the history of the Bengali voter, stability will always come before churn. In order to secure the preference of stability among the people of West Bengal, Adhikari needs to move away from being an opposition firebrand and become a patriarch of sorts.
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